This morning just as I was going to start chanting Daimoku the power went out. I added a few candles to illuminate the altar and resumed chanting Daimoku. A half-hour later, just as I was concluding my morning service with a final Namu Myoho Renge Kyo, the power returned and the lights snapped on. We need the rain here in California but I’m not sure we need this much wind.
Life is fleeting! No matter how many powerful enemies join forces against you, do not retreat and never be afraid. Even if your head is sawed off, your torso pierced through with a spear, and your feet shackled and drilled with a gimlet, you should continue chanting “Namu Myōhō-renge-kyō” as long as you have life. If you die chanting it, Śākyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures, and Buddhas in manifestation throughout the universe will immediately come flying, lead you by the hand or carry you on their shoulders to Mt. Sacred Eagle as they had promised at the assembly on Mt. Sacred Eagle. At that moment, two sages (Bodhisattvas Medicine King and Brave Donor), two heavenly kings (World Holding and Vaiśravaṇa), and ten female rākṣasa demons will protect you, upholders of the Lotus Sūtra, and various gods and deities will hold up a canopy over your head, wave banners, guard you, and certainly will send you to the Jeweled Land of Tranquil Light. Is not this the utmost happiness?
Nyosetsu Shugyō-shō, True Way of Practicing the Teaching of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 87-88
Anyone who rejoices at hearing this sūtra,
And who receives it respectfully,
Know this, has already reached
The stage of not-returning.
The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Three of the Lotus Sūtra. The state of non-returning means having the certainty of reaching enlightenment. As Bodhisattvas, when we go into any realm, whether higher or lower, it is to benefit the beings there. It is easy to become discouraged by the difficulties we face in this world of conflict, and to forget that we are not alone in our efforts to help others. When we return to the joy of the Lotus Sūtra, the Buddha reminds us of who we are, what we are doing, and where we are going, no matter what obstacles we may find.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 22 covers all of Chapter 17, The Variety of Merits.
Thereupon the innumerable, asaṃkhya living beings in the great congregation, who had heard from the Buddha that the duration of his life was so many kalpas as previously stated, obtained great benefits.
At that time the World-Honored One said to Maitreya Bodhisattva-mahāsattva:“Ajita! When I said that the duration of my life was so long, six hundred and eighty billion nayuta living beings, that is, the living beings as many as there are sands in the River Ganges, obtained the truth of birthlessness. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas numbering one thousand times the number of these living beings obtained the dharanis by which they could memorize all that they had heard. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of earth of a Sumeru-world obtained eloquence without hindrance. Another group of Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of earth of a Sumeru world obtained the dharanis by which they could memorize many hundreds of thousands of billions of repetitions of teachings. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of earth of one thousand million Sumeru-worlds obtained the faculty of turning the irrevocable wheel of the Dharma. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of earth of one million Sumeru-worlds obtained the faculty of turning the wheel of the pure Dharma. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of earth of one thousand Sumeru-worlds obtained the faculty of attaining Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi after eight rebirths. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas four times the number of the particles of earth of the four continents obtained the faculty of attaining Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi after four rebirths. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas three times the number of the particles of earth of the four continents obtained the faculty of attaining Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi after three rebirths. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas twice the number of the particles of earth of the four continents obtained the faculty of attaining Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi after two rebirths. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of earth of the four continents obtained the faculty of attaining Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi immediately after this life. Living beings as many as the particles of earth of eight Sumeru-worlds aspired for Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.”
When the Buddha said that these Bodhisattva-mahāsattva had obtained the great benefits of the Dharma, [the gods) in heaven rained mandārava-flowers and mahā-mandārava-flowers on the many hundreds of thousands of billions of Buddhas sitting on the lion-like seats under the jeweled trees. They also rained those flowers on [the two Buddhas:] Many-Treasures Tathāgata, who had passed away a long time ago, and Śākyamuni Buddha, both of whom were sitting on the lion-like seat in the stupa of the seven treasures. They also rained those flowers on the great Bodhisattvas’ and the four kinds of devotees. They also rained the fine powder of the incense of candana and aloes [on them). Heavenly drums automatically sounded wonderful and deep in the sky. [The gods] also rained thousands of heavenly garments and hung many necklaces made of pearls, mani gems or free-at-will gems over the nine quarters. They also burned priceless incense which was put in incense-burners of many treasures. The incense-burners automatically went around the great congregation, and the odor of the incense was offered to all the members of the congregation. Above each of the Buddhas [sitting under the trees), Bodhisattvas lined up vertically one upon another to the Heaven of Brahman, holding canopies and streamers. They praised the Buddhas, singing innumerable verses with their wonderful voices.
The five grave offenses are: killing one’s father; killing one’s mother; killing an arhat; injuring a buddha; and causing a schism in the saṃgha.
The ten evil acts are: the physical evils of killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct; the verbal evils of lying, harsh speech, malicious speech, and idle chatter or gossip; and the mental evils of giving in to covetousness, ill-will, and wrong views or foolishness.
The five virtues are: benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faithfulness.
The ten good acts consist of refraining from committing the ten evil acts.
The five precepts are not to kill, not to steal, not to engage in sexual misconduct’ not to lie, and not to consume intoxicants.
p110
The Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 7 (the “Never-Despising Bodhisattva” chapter) preaches: “Among the four kinds of devotees, there were some who had impurity in mind and gave way to anger. They spoke ill of the bodhisattva, called him an ignorant priest, … struck him with a stick or a piece of wood or a piece of tile or a stone. … Upon death, they underwent great torment in the Avīci Hell for 1,000 kalpa.” This scriptural statement means that those who abused the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra or struck him with a stick, unable to atone for their sins, had to suffer in the Avīci Hell for as long as 1,000 kalpa.
Ken Hōbō-shō, A Clarificaton of Slandering the True Dharma, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 114.
Because they did sinful karmas,
They lose pleasures and the memory of pleasures.
They are attached to wrong views.
They do not know how to do good.
They are not taught by a Buddha;
Therefore, they fall into the evil regions.
The Heavenly-King Brahmas from the zenith sing these verses to Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. They describe how beings live in a world in which they can find no Buddha, their joy that Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha has appeared, and their hope that this Buddha will lead all beings from the regions of difficulties. When these Brahmas speak of pleasure, it is not what comes from getting what we want. It is the pleasure of the Dharma, the pleasure enjoyed by all Buddhas when they become enlightened, and the pleasure available to us when we resolve to benefit all beings and practice the Buddha Dharma as Bodhisattvas.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 21 covers all of Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata.
Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:
It is many hundreds of thousands
Of billions of trillions
Of asaṃkhyas of kalpas
Since I became the Buddha.For the past innumerable kalpas
I have always been expounding the Dharma
To many hundreds of millions of living beings
In order to lead them into the Way to Buddhahood.In order to save the [perverted] people,
I expediently show my Nirvāṇa to them.
In reality I shall never pass away.
I always live here and expound the Dharma.Although I always live here
With the perverted people
I disappear from their eyes
By my supernatural powers.When they see me seemingly pass away,
And make offerings to my śarīras,
And adore me, admire me,
And become devout, upright and gentle,
And wish to see me
With all their hearts
At the cost of their lives,
I reappear on Mt. Sacred Eagle
With my Saṃgha,
And say to them:
“I always live here.
I shall never be extinct.
I show my extinction to you expediently
Although I never pass away.
I also expound the unsurpassed Dharma
To the living beings of the other worlds
If they respect me, believe me,
And wish to see me.
You have never heard this
Therefore, you thought that I pass away.”I see the [perverted] people sinking
In an ocean of suffering.
Therefore, I disappear from their eyes
And cause them to admire me.
When they adore me,
I appear and expound the Dharma to them.I can do all this by my supernatural powers.
I live on Mt. Sacred Eagle
And also in the other abodes
For asaṃkhya kalpas.
The Daily Dharma from Aug. 5, 2021, offers this:
I see the [perverted] people sinking
In an ocean of suffering.
Therefore, I disappear from their eyes
And cause them to admire me.
The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. With the story of the wise physician in this chapter, the Buddha explains how he disappears from our view even though he is always present to us. The children in the story would not accept the remedy their father prepared for them to counteract the poison they had taken. Some of them hoped for another remedy, some believed the remedy would be worse than the poison. It was not until the father left and told them he would not return that the children realized the value of what they already had. When we take the Buddha for granted, as the children in the story took their father for granted, and ignore the path he has laid out for us, we lose sight of the Buddha. It is only when we realize we are lost that we look for a guide. When we bring the Buddha’s teachings to life, we find him everywhere.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
History and Teachings of Nichiren Buddhism, p 108-109The truth of suffering states that all existence — the twenty-five states of existence, six paths, and the triple world — is bound by the suffering of repeated rebirth. Consequently, suffering is the objective circumstance of all existence.
The twenty-five states of existence classify the world into twenty-five parts, outlined as follows:
The Four Evil Destinies
1. Hell-dwellers
2. Hungry ghosts
3. Animals
4. Fighting demonsThe Four Continents
5. Pūravavideha in the east
6. Jambudvīpa in the south
7. Aparagodānīya in the west
8. Uttarakuru in the northThe Six Heavens of the Desire Realm
9. Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings
10. Heaven of the Thirty-three Gods
11. Heaven of Time
12. Heaven of Contentment
13. Heaven of Delight in Creation
14. Heaven of Controlling the Creations of OthersThe Seven Heavens of the Form Realm, including the Four Heavens of Meditative Absorption
15. Heavens of Great Brahma
16. First Heaven of Meditative Absorption
17. Second Heaven of Meditative Absorption
18. Third Heaven of Meditative Absorption
19. Fourth Heaven of Meditative Absorption
20. Heaven of the Non-Percipient
21. Heavens of the Pure AbodesThe Four Formless Heavens
22. Heaven of Space
23. Heaven of Consciousness
24. Heaven of Nothingness
25. Heaven of Neither Perception Nor Non-PerceptionAll twenty-five of these realms exist within the triple world and the six paths. All beings will have different karma so each will have different joys and sorrows and therefore different experiences.
QUESTION: In what age will the secret dharmas entrusted to Superior Practice and other bodhisattvas called out from the underground be spread?
ANSWER: The 23rd chapter, “The Previous Life of the Medicine King Bodhisattva” of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 7, preaches: “Propagate this chapter throughout this world during the last 500-year period after My extinction lest it should be lost.” Reading this passage in the sūtra respectfully, I see that the time for the secret dharmas to spread will be after the passage of the 2,000-year periods of the Ages of the True Dharma and the Semblance Dharma, namely during the fifth 500-year period after the death of the Buddha, which coincides with the beginning of the Latter Age of Degeneration, when it is believed that strife becomes rampant with Buddhism progressively declining to extinction.
Sandai Hiho Honjo-ji, The Transmission of the Three Great Secret Dharmas, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 287-288
